Knockando Whisky – 12 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Whisky
It is now Friday evening on January the 8th and we are now about to do our second tasting of the new year, a 12 year old Knockando Whisky.
Again we are all sitting around Jim’s tasting table with Dougie about to oblige by opening this we dram.
This Single Malt is from,
Knockando Distillery
Knockando
Banffshire
AB38 7RT
telephone: 01340 810205
Owners: Diageo
This distillery was built by John Thompson in 1898, and takes it’s name from the village in which it stands. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Cnoc-an-dhu, meaning “little black hill”
This little dram is relatively little-known in the UK, but Knockando is in fact Diageo’s fifth best-selling Malt due to it’s popularity in France and Spain.
Knockando belongs to the lighter side of Speyside Whiskies, and for its core range bottling takes the unusual step of declaring the vintage, as well as the age, of the malt in the bottle.
The tasting.
Knockando Single Malt Speyside Scotch Whisky, Distilled in 1993 and Aged for a minimum of 12 years, 43% Alc/vol.
Dougie’s tasting.
Nose…Green wood, fresh with a hint of ginger spice, a bit of orange zest, but with water added, it is like flat lemonade.
Taste…Smooth with a pleasant peppery and ginger spice nip over a sweet rounded body.
Finish…Medium in length – burnt toffee and ginger.
Score…2.5 corks
Nicola’s tasting.
Nose…fruity and sweet, a subtle hint of spice.
Taste…Spicy, tongue tingling but with an strong alcoholic taste.
Finish…Medium in length.
Score… 2 corks
Jim’s tasting.
Nose…Sweet and faintly grassy and certainly not harsh, spice showing a little.
Taste…Light with a dry creaminess, delicate and not overpowering.
Finish…Quite a short finish but smooth and a toffee dryness, an ideal aperitif.
Score…2.5 corks.
Overall score…2.5 corks
Well that went down quite well, this is a dram not too easy to obtain, you should be able to get it from you specialist Whisky shops and on the web.
Jim came across this fine dram in an independent newsagent/off sales outlet close to the High Station in Falkirk, if anyone knows of the shop please take a look in as it does hold some of the scarcer malts that most of the large supermarket chains do not.
It is worthwhile looking out for this dram and is would not be out of place in any ones dram cupboard, dare we say it try this for you pre Burns Supper meal.
We are looking forward to Friday 22nd as this is when Dougie is holding his Burns Supper, and as usual quite a few old, rare, and the unusual drams will be drunk, look out for our report on this event.
Also coming up is The Scotch Malt Whisky Society Outtake tastings in early February, we canny wait.
As usual tell them all that the Whisky Boys sent you.